You don’t know Eric Stewart. At age 24, he is medically retired from the Army Rangers and is convalescing at home. Eric fought in dozens of firefights, eventually earning a Purple Heart.

Eric spent the day (Apr 2) and night at the Dallas VA Medical Center. He had lost half of his blood and the people at the VA Hospital were attending to him.

How do I know so much about this young man? Eric is my son.

Raquel (my wife, Eric’s mother) and I visited our son at the hospital. Eric’s growing a (scraggy (my editorial comment, certainly not my son’s opinion)) beard and I joked with the nurses who were attending to him at his bedside, “When he’s asleep, would you shave his beard?”

The nurses got the joke and laughed, but one of them used the moment to reveal something very special when she asked, “For all he’s done, don’t you think he deserves that beard?”

I responded, “You’re right.”

With those few words, the nurse told us that she appreciated my son, a veteran, and what he gave to this country. My guess is that she shows that same attitude to all vets.

Thank you for caring for my son … and for all the vets you see day in and day out. They deserve our respect and support.